Miradi Falls
by Azura Rayume
Summary: As far as anyone knows, the plane of Miradi is completely unexplored. Once Jace stumbles across it on accident, the world is opened to any Planeswalker who happens to pass by, and one dragon can't wait to get his claws on it.
1. Chapter 1

"Zira!" a woman's voice called from inside one of the many simply built homes of the village. "Zira, come here!" The woman stepped out of the building, frazzled graying hair adding to her stressed appearance. She had been working in the house most of the day- not to mention the majority of the week- and could use some help. Of course her daughter had taken today off for one of her many excursions.

Zira's mother never quite grasped the draw her daughter had to the open fields that extended for miles around the small settlement the girl had always known. Zira could often be found wandering the plains in an attempt to escape chores or any other responsibility around the village. She loved the feel of the wind and sun when she was alone. She claimed she could only really think when she was alone in the waves of grasses.

Now, however, her outing was only serving to annoy her mother, who could not have cared less what Zira wanted with the rippling flats. As far as anyone else was concerned, those plains were only the landscape and felt no particular attachment outside what they found useful for their own purposes. In that respect, Zira was unique.

* * *

><p>Zira lay sprawled in a stretch of wild wheat beyond the range of her mother's shouting voice, eyes half closed in relaxation. She had spent her day watching the clouds roll by with no intention of moving any time soon. She was an adult now as far as the affairs of her home and village were concerned, so she was at liberty to do as she pleased. Sure her family would say she still had duties, but she could always avoid them by coming here.<p>

The plains had an odd affect on her; she always found herself more at ease when surrounded by the grasses instead of walls. Some would call her a free spirit that way. She would probably be inclined to agree.

Her thoughts began to drift from her current situation, from all the people she knew, from her home that she would love get away from as fast as she could. She wondered if there was anything beyond the plains. She could only assume there was, but she often thought about what those other places could be like. She had dreamed about them in the past, but those dreams were growing more sporadic as of late. She could hardly remember them now.

The idea of dreams sent a message through her already hazy mind. She felt herself drifting off to sleep under the light of the sun and didn't bother to fight it. Maybe she would dream of other places again at last. Within moments she was asleep.

* * *

><p>A pale blue light shimmered a few meters from the sleeping girl, its shape wavering from a force other than the breeze. It lingered a moment or two, then vanished, leaving a tall figure in its place. The person glanced from side to side, the slight wind that was always present on the plains tugging at the edges of his blue hood and cloak. He seemed confused, and rightfully so. He had expected to arrive somewhere more familiar than this, hopefully near the ocean, but found himself far from the source of mana he pulled from.<p>

The Planeswalker sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. He supposed this is what he got for bouncing from one plane to another without really caring where he wound up. He looked up, squinting at the bright sun overhead. At least this was a change from the last plane he had been on. That one had had a dark red sun instead of the typical yellow, which was only the first thing that had thrown him for a loop. He shook himself slightly, realizing that it was probably best to concentrate on where he was now,

He turned his sapphire gaze back to the plains around him. Things here were oddly quiet. Concerned that he had found an abandoned plane, he closed his eyes, reaching into the pull of mana from this world. The force he found was much stronger than he had been expecting. His earlier suspicions seemed confirmed by this, since there was no way there could be a population with mana stores as overflowing as this.

The wheat to his right stirred separately from the rest, drawing the mage's attention. He prepared to tap into the excessive mana store to protect himself from whatever creature prepared to spring at him from the grass, raising a hand in readiness. After a tense moment, a yawn from the spot caused him to relax. The sound was too human to be some creature ready to attack. He relaxed, relieved, as a blond girl sat up and stretched with another yawn.

"So," he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "I guess this place isn't as empty as I first thought."

Zira blinked at the stranger. "Empty?" she said. "What are you talking about?" Such a strange man to be standing under the sun using words that made no sense to her. Maybe he was lost and suffering from heat stroke. That could explain a lot, now that she thought about it.

The mind mage almost grinned, an expression many would have found unfamiliar for his face. "It's nothing, really," he said in that calm tone he was so known for. "I haven't seen any people since I arrived here, so I assumed that no one inhabited this area. It seems I was mistaken."

Zira blinked at him, still unsure of what to make of him. She had never seen anyone dressed like this man before… Well, except for the priests, but she only saw them on the days her family went to the temple. They never left there. Even then, the priests were always dressed in white, not blue. If he was one of them, he certainly had to have come from far away.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said, slightly hesitant but still curious as before, "what's your name?"

The man in blue blinked at her. That would be a reasonable request from anyone, he assumed, though he hadn't interacted with anyone other than another Planeswalker for so long he almost couldn't remember. They all knew him immediately. "Jace," he replied after a pause.

"Jace," Zira repeated as if to cement the name in her mind. "Well, Jace, I'm Zira Karizow. Pleased to meet you."

Jace nodded. "The pleasure is all mine, Zira." He turned his attention to the waves of grass that seemed to stretch on forever. He couldn't help but wonder where the girl could have come from, seeing how there were no buildings of any kind anywhere in the distance as far as he could tell. "You wouldn't happen to know where the closest town is, would you?"

"Of course!" She sounded far too cheery for someone he just suspected of being either a nomad or homeless. "I can take you there if you want." She stood and stretched again, positively beaming at him. "Follow me."


	2. Chapter 2

Nicol Bolas was, in every meaning of the word, bored. The great dragon had taken to drifting the Blind Eternities aimlessly as of late, seeing as how nothing would ever happen without him forcing the hand of fate. Occasionally he would pester Tezzeret or Liliana for a while, but even their struggles against him seemed like general annoyance now. Some people refused to let him have any fun.

Today was one such wandering day, and Bolas hated it already. He typically did, since looking for something to cure his boredom typically involved far too many mind numbing activities for his liking. He often found himself missing the days when he could do whatever he wanted without anyone giving it a second thought, mainly because he wouldn't let them have a second thought about it. He had ruled, and some people thought it would be a good idea to take that away. That wound still stung.

The dragon sighed, lazily turning his hulking frame over and over again in the light. Drifting had its moments, but this certainly wasn't one of them. He half considered just falling back to Jund for a nap, but then he would have to deal with Sharken and his tedious psychotic ramblings for a few hours before any rest could be had. Zendikar would have been fun except for all those Eldrazi that could pop up without a moment's hesitation, and Mirrodin was so overrun with Phyrexian oil the place was barely worth visiting. He could pester Karn, but then he would still be reminded of how he had lost the chance to play with another great artificer, one who could probably have rivaled Tezz simply because he was brilliant. No, of course, Vesner had to play the fool and resurrect that old golem only to be killed himself. What a waste.

Jund seemed more and more like a good idea until something popped up as a blip on his internal radar. He shifted himself to stare at the point of light, confused as to why it had made itself so interesting all of a sudden. Was that… Ravinca? No. Kamigawa? No, not that either. Bolas sifted through the names of every plane he could remember, but not a single one stuck to this particular location.

_Huh,_ he though, grinning bemusedly to himself, _that certainly is different. A plane I don't remember. Imagine that!_ A smirk still on his scaled lips, he shifted his attention there, thrusting a claw into the point and tearing a gap large enough to fit through into the other world.

The mountain under his claws felt no different at first than any other he had seen before, and Bolas wondered if it was different at all. Maybe this place had simply escaped him for a moment, and he really had visited here before. From the looks of things, this place was boring enough not to be remembered. The only thing he could tell that really made it stand out was that red sun, but even that wasn't so strange. After all, Mirrodin had five suns, each a different color. It was different, to be sure, but not so different as to warrant much memory.

The dragon snorted, now perturbed by the fact that he had bothered to come here after all. This place seemed boring and no more unusual than any he had seen before. Might as well leave now. He reached to rend space again, to fall back into the twisting Eternities, when he felt a surge of power he was ill prepared for. The mana of this plane was astounding and seemed much less volatile as that of Zendikar. That alone was enough to peak his interest.

There was another force, too, one he knew far too well and wished to control. That brought a smirk to his scaled face. "So Jace managed to find this place as well," he muttered to himself. "Maybe this place isn't so bad after all. It seems to have just fallen off the radar. Well, now that it's back, there can't be any harm in taking over, right? Plus there should be some fun with that dear mind mage along the way. Sounds like a splendid way to spend some time."


End file.
